


In My Linen, You Are Skin Again

by myracingthoughts



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Post-Canon, Scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27669710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myracingthoughts/pseuds/myracingthoughts
Summary: It was another close call.The limping onto the Zephyr and lingering silence in the cockpit said as much. Subtle glances to make sure there wasn’t more than the scrapes and bruises they’d come in with; tears, heaving breaths, anything beyond the shaking hands gripping their spent weapons.Kora would have said something as they entered, maybe even tried a joke to lighten the mood, but she knew better.Daisy and Daniel deal with the emotional aftermath of a mission.
Relationships: Skye | Daisy Johnson/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 12
Kudos: 54





	In My Linen, You Are Skin Again

**Author's Note:**

> For anonymous, who requested ‘ **kissing scars**.’ This fic was also written for day one of Dousy Week, for the prompt ‘ **close calls**.’

It was another close call.

The limping onto the Zephyr and lingering silence in the cockpit said as much. Subtle glances to make sure there wasn’t more than the scrapes and bruises they’d come in with; tears, heaving breaths, anything beyond the shaking hands gripping their spent weapons. 

Kora would have said something as they entered, maybe even tried a joke to lighten the mood, but she knew better. She hadn’t seen what Daisy and Daniel had out in the field because she’d been babysitting the jet in safety —practically the lap of luxury on some distant, alien planet, far from Earth.

Far from the last thing any of them knew as home.

Kora wondered off-hand if she could have helped any, even if she had been out in the field with them. A trained agent she was not, and while her power was helpful, Daisy’s daily training made Kora realize she still had a lot to learn about defending herself.

About teamwork. 

“You two should get some rest,” was all Kora managed to say in the end. A gentle nudge in the right direction for the two who looked like they could drop any second. “I’ll get us re-routed and back up in the air in no time.”

Daisy stopped to grip Kora’s shoulder in appreciation, quickly kissing her sister’s cheek and whispering a much too quiet “Thank you,” laced with gravel and exhaustion.

Daisy and Daniel always seemed to be in arms’ reach of each other, even while they were cradling ribs or limbs as they hobbled down the hallway. From her spot by the ramp, Kora could see Daniel’s watchful eye on Daisy down the hall. That flash of fear behind his expression indicative of a particularly close encounter. 

But knowing they had each other, and they both had her, she went back to the control panel and programmed their next set of coordinates.

* * *

Daisy liked to think she and Daniel were at the point in their relationship where silence was never really awkward. But here and now, all the unsaid words between them seemed to take up every square inch of the room, until there was no air left to breathe.

Tugging at a zipper to free up space in her lunch, she steeled herself and tried to make the best of a bad situation.

“You know, the important part is, we made it out,” Daisy offered just above a whisper.

They had both messed up out there. Both put themselves in danger to protect the other, like the stupid, noble idiots that they were.

Daniel merely shook his head across the room, fingers struggling to unhook his bulletproof vest. 

“One day, we might not.”

There was no anger or frustration in his tone, not as he sat on the bed and watched her in the dark. Neither of them had bothered with the lights, leaving their eyeballs as the only thing not aching in the aftermath.

This was their routine, even after the standard missions.

Daisy was always first to strip out of her suit, ready to slough off the evidence of battle at the first sign of safety. Daniel knew it was part of how she decompressed afterwards, scrubbing away worries and might-haves from every mission that didn’t quite go according to plan.

Did they ever go according to plan?

Daniel’s brand of me-time typically involved a nice glass of scotch, but he feared his hands might still be too shaky to hold a glass upright tonight.

But Daisy was still stuck on his point, stubborn as she replied, “Not if we have each other’s backs. I would never let that happen.”

The determination in her voice shone through, and Daniel knew above anything that it was a promise, not a statement. 

Closing the gap between them, half-dressed and wincing from the motion, he reached out. Daisy’s cheek rested in the palm of his hand, fingers tracing the smooth skin behind her ear until it happened upon a twisted patch of skin —a scar lingering from the implant behind her ear in some future-past adventure.

“I know, sweetheart. It’s not that… I just would hate to have one of these be my fault.”

And something about that stopped Daisy’s hands in their tracks, eyes trying to find his even in the dim light. Daniel didn’t seem to notice, distracted as he traced his fingertips over the two raised circles on her abdomen. Gunshots, courtesy of her scuffle at Ian Quinn’s —the one that nearly killed her before she’d ever really started as a S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.

“Scars aren’t all bad. They tell stories,” Daisy murmured, sitting down on the bed as her hands moved to unhook his pants. Daniel let them drop to the floor, otherwise occupied and mind whirring. “When you really think about it, they’re no different from birthmarks or pimples or even tattoos. They’re just part of you.”

Wise beyond her years, Daniel realized. But something about them still made his gut twist into knots, with a long history of misadventures. Mistakes.

Regrets.

“Yeah, sure, but they’re etched into our skin for everyone to see. So I can parade around this _thing_ ,” Daniel motioned to his leg. “And see this event I’d often rather forget every single day.”

She found a few of his own, silently tracing them, pressing kisses to the raised, white lightening scars he hid behind everyday clothes. Of missions long past in time and place. The shivers seemed to spur her on, hands drifting lower until she was halfway down his thigh.

Daniel seemed to seize up. Daisy quickly pulled her hands away, folding them in her lap.

“You know, helped me appreciate my scars,” Daisy said quietly, and suddenly Daniel was at a loss for words. “Your marks, they’re just…you. They’re a part of you, all parts that you loved and lost, the parts that got you _here_ ,” Daisy continued. “To this moment. With me. And we wouldn’t be the same people we are today without them.”

Daniel didn’t look convinced, reaching down to remove his prosthetic. And while he never said it out-loud, Daisy could see the discomfort on his face when he wore it too long; it was different from the ease he had without it, asleep and peaceful.

Daisy tossed open the covers and patting the empty patch of bed beside her. Sliding in without a word, she pulled him closer, skin to skin, sharing their warmth. The thump of her heart was the only thing grounding him in the moment, away from the thoughts he locked away with his cane and now-vintage clothing. All those unfinished stories, loose ends and hang-ups.

All those things he thought he’d been over for a few years, at least.

Somehow they still felt so raw.

“You know, in my time, tattoos are pretty common,” Daisy started, and he could feel the words buzz against his chest where her head lay. “Some people get them to help cover up those memories, those scars. It hurts like a bitch, apparently, but it happens.”

Daniel chuckled at the thought, watching as Daisy traced invisible lines against his skin. Even just feeling her near him, the warmth and the rawness of it helped bring him back down to the moment again. 

Away from the what-ifs or the might-have-beens.

Just here. With her.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. All comments, kudos and bookmarks are loved and cherished.
> 
> This fic was a prompt. You can find my [prompts list and details here](https://pasmonblog.tumblr.com/post/635410523601649664) if you're interested in adding to my WIP list (please do).


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